Definitions for Otaheite

This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word Otaheite

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Otaheite(ProperNoun)

Early form of Tahiti.

Origin: Recorded by Samuel Wallis on encountering the island in 1767. But Johann Forster and Georg Forster on Captain Cook's second voyage to the island in 1773 were accomplished comparative linguists and realized the O was an article in the Tahitian language and not properly part of the name. (Reference: Nicholas Thomas, Discoveries: The Voyages of Captain Cook, Penguin, 2003, ISBN 0-713-9957-2, page 187.)